Weather Predictors

I saw a woolly bear caterpillar crawling across my driveway the other day and wondered about the upcoming weather.  I remembered the old folktale that you could predict the weather by the thickness of the brown band.  “The wider the brown band compared to the black band, the milder the winter.”  Just to be sure, I looked it up on Google and found an interesting article.  You can see the web link below under the title “Woolly Bear Caterpillar”.

You can also see two photos at the left. The one on top with the leaf is from the web and the one on the bottom is from my driveway. Although the brown band is bigger than the black in both photos, there is more black in my driveway photo. Both photos would predict a milder winter but colder in the driveway photo. Is this pure science or what?

Since my curiosity was now peaked, I looked up other weather predictors and found the traditional Farmer’s Almanac, A Pig’s Spleen, Insect Movements, and Cloud Types, etc. could be used to predict the upcoming weather season.

The Farmer’s Almanac has been around for a lot of years and has about a 70% accuracy. “It predicts a colder and drier winter this season (2013-2014)”. They say that the Almanac gets its predictions from analysis of yearly weather patterns as well as a “guarded secret formula”. Similarly, the traditional folklore predictions have been passed down through the generations as farmers watched the skies and sailors watched the seas.  My favourite is “Red skies in the morning, sailors taking warning. Red skies at night sailors delight”.

You can see some other “folklore weather sayings” at the web link below …

http://www.almanac.com/content/weather-predicting-do-it-yourself   Before the fancy weather instruments of today, families would predict upcoming weather by looking at the sky. The weather patterns observed over many years seemed to be good predictors of the upcoming weather. The list below includes a few examples of the weather proverbs. (“The higher the clouds, the finer the weather - Clear Moon, frost soon -When clouds appear like towers, the Earth is refreshed by frequent showers - Rainbow in the morning gives you fair warning - Ring around the moon? Rain real soon - Rain foretold, long last. Short notice, soon will pass”.)

Another more comprehensive list of weather proverbs or rhyming forecasts can be found at the web link ….  http://tww.id.au/weather/forecast.html   The list includes weather rhymes for (clouds, wind, plants, night, seasons, etc.)  Some examples are (“Wind from the east fish bite least, wind from the west fish bite best - When Windows won't open, And the salt clogs the shaker, The weather will favour the umbrella maker!”)

Weather is a finicky thing and even with the best weather instruments, present day weather men only make predictions based on their best guess. My old favourite is to put my wet finger in the air to tell which way the wind is blowing. If it is from the west and there are low clouds, rain will be here soon.

Do you have any old time weather predictors?

Comments always welcome:  ….. markryan82@comcast.net.

Other Reference

Farmer’s Almanac

http://www.almanac.com/weather/longrange/region/us/1  - Winter will be colder and drier than normal, with below-normal snowfall. The coldest periods will be from Christmas through early January and in mid-January and early, mid-, and late February. The snowiest periods will be in mid-November, mid- to late December, mid- to late February, and early March.

Woolly Caterpillar

http://m.almanac.com/content/predicting-winter-weather-woolly-bear-caterpillars
The tiger moth caterpillar has black ends and a reddish brown middle.  Folklore has it that the larger the brown segment compared to the black is a predictor of a milder winter.
Comments to the Woolly Bear Caterpillar Article
There are mixed comments to the article from various readers.  I guess it all depends on your experience and in which part of the United States that you are located. One comment from Hardyville,Va states the following: “I have watched the Woolly Worm for years but have not gotten any answers about the weather.  I find the Quantity of Nuts and wild berries that are produced, the thickness of the shells are a better clue as to the temperature of the winter.  Also the closer to the ground that the wasps and hornets build their nests in the summer the colder it will be in the winter. I think that folks in different areas have their own special ways of determining how they think the weather is forecasted in that area.”

Predicting Weather With A Pig Spleen
http://www.almanac.com/content/predicting-weather-pig-spleen
When farmers would slaughter pigs in the fall, the shape of the spleen was used to predict the upcoming winter. The bulges and thickness of the spleen from top to bottom were a sign of colder changing weather. These folklore methods were part of the Scandinavian heritage of Midwestern farmers.

 

 

Romeo Restaurant Reviews (The Finicky Phantom Diner)

    

I have recently been looking at online restaurant reviews and decided to create my own.  After all, I go out to eat at least once a week with my wife, family or friends.  My opinion counts just as much as all those fancy critics and might even mean more to the regular Tom, Dick or Harriet.

I first Googled  “Restaurant Reviews” and came up with a list of possible suspects. There was Zagat.com, TripAdvisor.com, Yelp.com, Local.com besto.voiceplaces.com, urbanspoon.com, fodors.com, opentable.com, dine.com and many others.  Some review web sites were geared to just local restaurants, business or attractions and other sites were national.

I then read the reviews on the various sites.  Some were easily accessible by the average diner and others you had to join to even get a local opinion or list of businesses.  Some also had reviews from professional reviewers and others from the casual diner.

After reading a few reviews, most zeroed in on a few categories when giving a restaurant critique. These included (service, atmosphere, cleanliness, food, and price). When rating these categories different scales were used like (Five Stars *****), (A,B,C,D), (Good, Fair, Bad), (Low, Medium High), (1 to 4) or (1 to 100).

When trying to define each category I came up with the following definitions.   Atmosphere describes the décor or feel of the place. Cleanliness describes how clean the tables, plates, silverware, floors or bathrooms were.  Service describes how fast you were seated, how quickly the waiter returned with requested items, how they greeted you, how knowledgeable they were about the menu choices. Price describes how reasonable the cost was for the food and service (Low, Medium or High).  Food was the most important category and describes the quality of the food and its presentation. How the food looks, smells and tastes?  Is it over cooked, tender, and fresh?  Does it have a pleasing look and aroma?  Is the quantity just right, too little or supersize.

With all this in mind I decided to post my reviews on YELP.COM since it was easily accessible by the casual reviewer as well as the diner looking for some advice when selecting a restaurant. Yelp reviews restaurants and other businesses both locally and nationally.

Most importantly, if you want to write a review it needs to be done as soon after your dining experience as possible so your opinion is fresh in your mind and meaningful.

When dining with my wife we normally discuss our reactions to the rating categories while we are eating.  However, it is more difficult trying to gather this information when dining with a larger crowd unless everyone contributes they’re opinions in writing.

Recently, I polled my Romeo friends (Retired Old Men Eating Out), for their opinions on the restaurants that we have dined at.  Although I receive a limited response, I would like to thank those who replied and will try to include their opinions in my reviews.

To date,  I have written four reviews and posted them on YELP.com  You can see them there by typing in my name (Mark Ryan) in the Members Search  line or just clicking on the link below ….

http://www.yelp.com/user_details?userid=seDiKEJ7zJErE-_5HV4VFQ

There is also a short rating found below for those who wish to send me a review or recommendation for a restaurant to try. Thanks in advance for your help.

Comments Always Welcome ……. Markryan82@comcast.net

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Restaurant Review Short Form

Your Name    __________________      Present  Date ____________

Name of Restaurant ______________ Date Dined ________

Rating Score (1-10 with 1= Poor and 10 = Best) Rate the Price = (Low, Medium, High)

Type a number or letter after each category and send the reply by email back to me.

Only respond to the lunch that you attended.

Rate the following categories : Service __ , Food  __ , Atmosphere __ , Price (L,M,H) ___

Name Your Menu Selection and Describe it:

______________________________________________

______________________________________________

Additional Comments:

_______________________________________________


 

Recent reviews by Mark R.

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